Educators Urge Shared School Decision-making

February 24, 1988|By Constanza Montana.

A coalition of educators added its recommendations to the growing list of proposals for reforming the ailing Chicago public schools Tuesday by calling for shared decision-making between parents, teachers and principals and greater authority for local schools.

``Our recommendations come from the firing line`` of teachers and principals, said Lee Boyce, principal at Byford Elementary School, 5600 W. Iowa St. and a member of Project Co-Lead, a partnership of Chicago principals and teachers and Northeastern Illinois University. This coalition is making these recommendations because ``teachers and principals know best the kinds of changes that can make the difference,`` he said.

The goal of the draft plan is to raise student achievement in the public schools, Boyce said. The group`s reform proposals will have to compete with other recommendations offered by parents, civic groups, the Chicago Teachers Union and the board itself.

Unlike other reform proposals, the educators are calling for each school to have the authority to pay vendors directly for textbooks, supplies, equipment and repairs.

Following recommendations made by the Parent-Community Council, Project Co-Lead is calling for a local school governing body made up of the principal, teachers, parents, students and community leaders to participate in the selection of principals, teachers, curriculum and materials.

But unlike the parents` plan, which calls for parents to make up at least 60 percent of 10- to 20-member local boards, the educators still have not made a final recommendation as to the size of the board or the distribution of power among its members, Boyce said.

The teachers union has voiced opposition to proposals to decentralize decision-making, and the board`s approach to this key issue has been cautious. The partnership is also recommending that the local governing board and the district superintendent evaluate principals every three to five years. Boyce said the educators have not discussed principal performance contracts, a recommendation made by Supt. Manford Byrd Jr.

Other recommendations include increased staff development and a shortening of the current one-year remediation period for unsatisfactory teachers to 20 weeks.

For the reform proposals to be fully implemented, the school system`s $1.9 billion budget would have to be increased, Boyce said. ``It`s impossible to work within the current budget,`` he said. ``We`re recommending that the state provide at least 51 percent of school funding.`` The Parent-Community Council has made a similar recommendation.

The educators said they plan to present their final recommendations in the near future to the Chicago Teachers Union, the Mayor`s Summit on Educational Reform, the Board of Education and state legislators. Boyce said a draft of the recommendations had already been sent to the Chicago Principals Association, which is also devising its own reform plans.